FITCHBURG -- Usually when there's a bunch sprint at the end of a cycling race, it's to determine a winner, not the rider who finishes fourth overall.

In a rare display of such dominance, U.S. national criterium champion Brad Huff put his mark on the Longsjo history books as he brought the thunder and the pain Sunday afternoon, lapping the field with 16 laps remaining and easily maintaining his pace to capture the Men's Pro/1/2 race at the Fitchburg Classic Criterium on the final day of the 55th Fitchburg Longsjo Classic.

New York native Curtis White, who finished third in Sunday's re-configured set-up of the original Longsjo course, did enough to maintain his hold on and win the omnium points classification -- his first overall omnium title -- with 75 points. Huff finished second with 60, with Marlowe Rodman -- who won the Worcester stage in 2015 -- finishing third in the omnium (31 points) and second in Sunday's race.

White and Rodman worked together later in the race to remain in second and third.

"Our interests coincided, and he's a really strong guy; I really needed him to help, and he rode phenomenally," White said. "(The omnium title) feels awesome; it's one of the most prestigious races in the country, one of the oldest races in the country. To join the list of names of those who have won it is a real honor."

While Sam Rosenholtz's sprint for fourth provided some extra excitement, Huff's performance of the ages was certainly the story.

How he did it is a tale to remember.

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"Luckily I had the legs," Huff told race announcer Richard Fries afterward. "And I just pulled off the power of the race and went for it. This is an amazing venue, and I feel honored to be in this race and this city. This is like my second home here on the East Coast.

"I'm on some good form. I just came off the Northstar Grand Prix in Philadelphia and the U.S. National road race, and luckily I'm in good form and have a rider behind me in Curtis who is riding amazing. For him to win the overall is just amazing."

Huff had joined a small, disorganized pack of five riders some 14 laps into the 52-lap event before the peleton started feathering out along Main Street. In time, with White and Cole Archambault joining the party, the breakaway pack had swelled to nine, along with a trailing chase group of three riders. Yet as soon as that breakaway got its act together and started working in tandem to drive the train with 32 laps remaining, it unleashed a firestorm of rubbery devastation in its wake for the next 14.

Working together, the breakaway pack had slowly built its gap over the chase group and the peleton. With 32 laps to go, the pack had a 48-second lead over the field, before that gap grew by eight and a half seconds on the next trip through the new Academy Street start-finish line.

"It took a while for that breakaway to form," White said. "It was a couple of guys going across, but it was early, and it was a risk to go. But it had the horsepower. I went across and we started hitting it hard."

Three laps later, Huff, White, Rodman and Co. had 1:12 on the field, as well as 47 seconds on the chase grouping. And even after the breakaway had nearly disintegrated following Huff and Rodman's attack for omnium points with 25 laps to go, the break quickly regrouped on Boulder Drive.

With 22 to go, the gap was 1:17.

"(Rodman) is fast," Huff said of their 26th-lap break for omnium. "He's really fast, and the only way I could beat him was jump early. I wasn't going to be able to beat him in a sprint; he's the strongest sprinter in that breakaway. I had to take advantage of being able to hold the pace, and it worked."

One turn around the Upper Common later, the gap was 1:23.

Game over? For the field, yes.

It would soon be over for the break, too. With 19 laps to go in New England's premier cycling event, and in a moment of tactical brilliance, Huff used the course reconfiguration to his advantage. In what has been the normal breathing area -- from old City Hall up to Academy -- since 1960, the Springfield, Mo., rider shot away from the break with the efficiency of a lightning strike, catching them napping and launching himself around the Upper Common. In that same turning, Mike Margarite, who had been in the pack and in the mix for the omnium since Friday, took a spill in front of the First Unitarian Parish church and broke his clavicle, eliminating him from the race.

One lap later, Huff was gone, building a 17-second lead on the other seven riders, then gaining six additional seconds with 17 left.

But he didn't stop there. He went to the toolbox, kept hammering away and, thanks to an 85-second gap he and the rest of the breakaway pack had built, it meant the main field wasn't in the rearview mirror -- it was dead ahead.

The rear of the main pack absorbed him in reverse fashion midway through the Philbin Federal Building, putting him a full lap up on everyone.

"I didn't know I was going to actually get to lap the field," an amazed Huff said. "When I saw the back end, I just had to get it. That would set Curtis up really well to play off the yellow jersey. It was a gamble, but it put him in position to have the card in his hand to be able to play it later."

With him safely in the pack, White took a flyer and brought Rodman with him, effectively splintering the break into several distinct groups, which, for a little while, led to a little bit of organized chaos for lead race official Christian Constantino and his gaggle of powder blue-shirted scorers.

"When Brad went across to lap the field, it relieved me of any responsibilities of chasing," White said. "I don't always like sitting on, but it was what was necessary for today."

Huff gave full credit to his teammate, White, and even gave him a friendly, joking dig in praise of his first omnium title.

"Harrison's brother has been working hard. He's been doing intervals with his sister Emma all year long, and it shows. The family support behind this young man -- Emma's brother, Harrison's brother -- he's just phenomenal," Huff said. "He's got a huge future, and Curtis White's name should be recognized on every podium."

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